GILAS PHILIPPINES victory against RUSSIA – WILLIAM JONES CUP 2015

Another victory of Gilas Philippines men’s basketball against Russia on William Jones Cup 2015, Final replay and scores recorded Gilas vs Russia 2015 85-71.

The Philippine national men’s basketball team pulled off a huge victory, handing erstwhile unbeaten Russian club Spartak Primorye its first loss of the 37th William Jones Cup, 85-71, on Tuesday at the Xinchuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

With the win, Gilas bounced back from its first setback – a loss to South Korea on Sunday – to improve to 2-1 for the tournament.

Russia (3-1) held victories over the USA team and New Zealand’s Wellington Saints and Gilas Pilipinas’ tormentors South Korea heading into the game but could not get the job done against a sharp and balanced Philippine squad in this one.

The Philippines recovered from a tough loss to South Korea the day before and improved its record to 2-1 while dealing the previously undefeated Russia its first loss for a 3-1 slate.

Trailing by 4-15 to start the contest, Gilas rallied together after a number of bloody altercations and took a slim 43-40 halftime lead. They held control from that point on.

The nationals overcame their third quarter waterloo and outscored the Russians 18-10 to lead by double digits entering the fourth.

Russia came close, 61-55, after a 5-0 burst to open the payoff period but De Ocampo buried a 3-pointer to get Gilas going, and they re-established a sizeable edge.

De Ocampo, who’s been searching for his rhythm coming off a hamstring injury in the past 3 weeks, drained another booming triple that gave Gilas a comfortable 76-65 advantage with under two minutes remaining.

Veteran Dondon Hontiveros followed that up with his own trey while big man Asi Taulava added a hard-earned basket underneath for an 81-65 lead and the finishing touches with 51 ticks still to go.

Used to banging bodies in the PBA, the Filipinos endured expected physical play from the Russian side all game long. But the game quickly turned bloody as early as the 7:59 mark of the opening period, where big man Sonny Thoss bled profusely after getting elbowed on the back of the head during a rebound play.